46-Year-Old Melissa Heyer Sentenced To Federal Prison For Submitting False Claims To U.S.

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GAITHERSBURG, Md. (WJZ) — Officials announced that 46-year-old Melissa Heyer was sentenced to a twelvemonth and a time in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised merchandise for submitting mendacious claims to the United States.

Heyer was sentenced for submitting mendacious claims to the United States, specifically for claiming to have worked hours on a authorities declaration erstwhile she allegedly was not astatine work. Judge Russell besides ordered Heyer to pay $107,300 successful restitution.

According to her plea agreement, Company A was a subcontractor for Company B, providing employees that performed nationalist information duties for the Department of Defense (DOD).

From January 2017 until March 2019, Heyer worked for Company A but was assigned connected a day-to-day basis to work for the DOD on nationalist information matters astatine the National Security Agency (NSA), in Fort Meade, Maryland.

Heyer besides held Top Secret-Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) information clearance and performed her duties for Company A and the DOD at a delicate compartmented accusation installation (SCIF) astatine the NSA installation wherever she worked. She utilized a badge reader to gain access to the SCIF.

On astatine slightest 5 occasions betwixt January 2017 and March 2019, Heyer falsely represented to her leader that she had been moving astatine the NSA SCIF erstwhile she was really elsewhere. She caused false claims to be submitted to the DOD that resulted successful the authorities paying much than $100,000 to Company A, Company B, and Heyer, to which they and Heyer were not entitled.

In total, arsenic effect Heyer knowingly caused the government to be billed for more than 1,200 hours of her clip erstwhile she had really not worked.

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For more accusation connected the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, delight visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.